Fuel block or briquet.



UNITED STATES [PATENT OFFICE.

ADRIAAN FLORIS VAN HALL, FRITZ BASENAU, AND RICHARD CORNELUS J OHANN USvAiW HAAGEN, OF AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, ASSIGNORS TO THE FIRM OF NAA-MI"LOOZE VENNOOTSGHAP BRIQUET COMPANY DAM, NETHERLANDS.

FUEL BLOCK on BRIQUET.

No Drawing.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 5, 1910. Serial -No. 575,738.

c To all whom it may concern: a

Be it known that we, ADRIAAN Fnonrs VAN HALL, FRITZ BASENAU, and RICHARDCOR- NELUS JoHANNUs VAN HAAGEN, subjects of the Queen of theNetherlands, residing at Amsterdam, ether-lands, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements Relating to Fuel Blocks or Briquets, ofwhich the following is a specification.

Many attempts have been made to convert.

coal or coal-slack, anthracite or anthraciteslack and coke orcoke-breeze into blocks or briquets by means of liquid fuel, but forattaining the desired object, it was found necessary, to employ abinding substance and in addition to sulfurize the liquid hydrocarbonsor to first convert the liquid hydrocarbons into a more or less solidform, for instance by saponification, and then to mix them with coal toobtain a product resembling briquets. It has also been attempted toconvert coal and petroleum residue or wood and said residue or peat andsaid residue into a solid form, but without any practical success.

According to the present invention, a mixture of coal and coal-slack orwaste or anthracite and anthracite-slack or Waste or ture. If desired, abinding substance or other admixtures may be employed at the same time,but the binding substance alone is not capable of bringing a mixture ofsolid and liquid fuel into a condition in which it can be formed intosolid blocks or briquets.

By this we mean that where in said processthe hydrocarbonaceous liquidor a part of it has to some degree a binding property this property isnot the one relied upon to bring out the ultimate cohesion in thebriquet;

but on the contrary for the purposes of that cohesion the essentialcharacteristic is the continued intense mechamcal workmg to troleumresidue equal to 10 to 40 per cent. of

the total weight may be employed, according to the nature of the solidfuel and the purpose for which the product is to be used. A solid fuel,for instance anthracite, is of course manifestly incapable of enteringinto a coherent unit with other particles of anthracite in the absenceof a binder. Similarly the petroleum residue or liquid fuel, which initself is incapable of acting as a binder for the particles ofanthracite, will not by itself be capable of forming or existing as asolid unit. The underlying discovery of this application is that suchsolid and liquid fuels having what may be called these negativequalities, will, when treated in a certain manner, result in theproduction of a relatively dry, plastic substance capable of forminghomogeneous, coherent, solid units. The means employed to bring aboutthis condition is the kneading machine above described, in which thesolid and liquid particles are subjected torepeated or continuedmechanical treatment until the desired condition is attained. Whetherthe transformation of the physical properties of the respectivematerials depends upon chemical or mechanical principles, or both, hasnot yet been definitely ascertained. The fact remains, however, that weare the first to have combined these solid and liquid fuels intocoherent, stable, solid masses without the use ofbinders. It is apparentthat as the kneading process goes forward, the solid fuel will be, to acertain extent, broken into fine fragments, and that the largerparticles of the solid fuel will be subjected to the repeated rolling orkneading motion, so that as the mass becomes drier, it will finally bedischarged from the machines in the form of coarsely granularconglomerate and relatively dry particles. The precise degree of drynesswill, of course, depend upon the duration of the mechanical kneadingproc- Patented Oct. 20, 1914 (BRIKET MAATSCHAPPIJ), OF AMSTER- ess.Under usual conditions the granular conglomerate particles are in aconditlon in which they will not become pasted to-' gether duringtransportation, but in which they can be poured from a container likepeas from a jar. These relatively dry coarse particles, when pressed byhand or in a suitable mold, will, however, because of their plasticcondition, readily unite into a coherent, homogeneous mass of permanentshape. After the said two different types of fuel have} been uniformlymixed, the mixture is subjected to a mechanical treatment by rollers,grind-stones or kneading machines, until the material has assumed adrier and a plastic or viscous condition, after which the material isready for being pressed and may be pressed into the desired shape ofblocks or briquets.

Where herein above we have referred to liquid hydrocarbonaceousmaterials or liquid combustible materials, We mean to refer to fuelswhich are liquid during the kneading operation as carried out in themachines above referred to rather than to physical characteristics ofsaid fuel under conditions other than those that are present in thekneading machines. The product thus obtained is suitable for storage andfor transport, and answers all practical requirements of block-fuel.

The present invention provides a method of utilizing raw materials orwaste-prodpcts, which hitherto have been almost worthess- The wordlmeading in the claims is'intended to refer to the above describedmechanical treatment to which the mixture of solid and liquid fuels issubjected.

What we claimisz- 1. The process of making fuel briquets which-consistsin subjecting the mixture of a solid carbonaceous combustible fuel and aliquid hydrocarbonaceous combustible fuel to an intense mechanicalworking at ordinary temperatures, of such a character as to reduce insize the particles of solid fuel under treatment, and in continuing suchmechanical working1 until the hydrocarbonaceous liquid-is t oroughlyincorporated in coarse, relatively dry, granular particles of crushedcarbonaceous fuel so as to produe in said particles a plastic state inwhich they are capable of conversion into a briquet by the applicationofpressure merely;

' a 2; The process of making fuel briquets which consists inmixing asolid carbonaceous combustible fuel with a liquidhydro carbonaceouscombustible fuel incapable of itself of acting as a binder for the solidfuel and subjecting the mixture to an intense mechanical kneading andcrushing process at ordinary temperatures, of such a character as toreduce in size the particles of solid fuel under treatment andcontinuing said process until the hydrocarbonaceous liquid is thoroughlyincorporated in coarse, relatively dry granular particles of the crushedcarbonaceous fuel so as to produce in said particlesa plastic state, andthen compressing the mass into briquets.

3. In the briqueting art the process which consists in converting asolid carbonaceous fuel having the property of non-coherence with otherparticles of itself and a liquid hydrocarbonaceous fuel having theproperty of existing under ordinary conditions only in liquid form andbeing incapable of acting as an effective binder for the solidcomponent, into permanently cohering binding relation by subjecting amixture thereof to repeated intense mechanical working or kneadingoperations at ordinary temperatures, of such a character as to reduce insize the particles of solid fuel under treatment until thehydrocarbonaceous liquid is thoroughly incorporated in coarse,relatively dry carbonaceous fuel so as to produce in sald particles aplastic 'and coheringly. shapable condition.

4. A fuel briquet comprising as its essential ingredient a solidcarbonaceous combustible fuel and a liqpid hydrocarbona' ceouscombustible fuel, t e same being present in the form of a compressedintensely kneaded and crushed mass of the said two fuels, thehydrocarbonaceous liquid fuel being thoroughly incorporated in andcarried by the crushed carbonaceous fuel.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

' ADRIAAN FLORIS VAN HALL.

FRITZ BASENAU. RICHARD GORNELUS J OHANNUS VAN HAAGEN.

Witnesses;

CY. Tmnons, T. V. A. KAKEL.

granular particles of the crushed

